The Anchor

The Anchor

When the seas get rough

Just remember

There is an anchor there

To keep you grounded

It will not fail you

Nor deceive you

For it is strong

Just like you, beautiful warrior

Let go of your control

And give it over to your anchor

Trust it with all your might

And never give up your fight

Because deep down in your soul

You’re stronger than you know

Courageous. Strong. Bold.

I came across this excerpt from my word document titled "my first book," which I started in 2017, right after I graduated from the College of St. Benedict.  For those of you who don't know much about St. Ben's, we call it CSB for short, and one of the acronyms for the Bennies is Courageous. Strong, and Bold, which I find very fitting. I loved St. Ben's dearly, and despite all of the struggles I went through, I wouldn't change them for anything because they have made me a stronger person today. 

.....  

“I am thankful for my struggle because without it, I wouldn’t have stumbled across my strength” 

When I turned 18, I thought I was a true adult who had figured out life.  I was excited to go off to college and have the time of my life, to become a new person, and to find the career and man of my dreams.  They say college is the best four years of your life, the time where you can escape all of the problems that come with living in the safety net of your parents’ home.  I thought I would have figured out my life after walking across that stage with my diploma and that I would be sad to leave the “best” 4 years of my life, but actually, none of that happened.  I believe that we never truly figure out everything about our lives, but that is what makes it pretty freaking cool. We are always growing, evolving, and changing, and self-discovery is a constant part of life.  Well, I discovered so much about myself in college, and I honestly look back on those four years as some of the toughest years of my life.  If you knew me as an acquaintance, professor, teammate, etc. you would probably never know the extent of what I went through.  It breaks my heart to look back at what happened during those four years, suffering with severe anorexia, dealing with anxiety and panic attacks, and also discovering that I have ADHD.  However, now that I have made it out stronger on the other side, I am learning not to mourn what happened, but to instead have grace for myself and be proud of how far I have come.  "Take pride in how far you have come and have faith in how far you can go."

Welcome to my Blog!

Hello and welcome to Bravely BeYOUtiful - I'm happy you're here!  A little bit about me: My name is Allie, and I am currently a Communication Studies graduate student in the  beautiful state of MinneSNOWta.  The idea to start this blog came about the other day when reading a chapter from "Girl Wash Your Face" by Rachel Hollis. I've been thinking about writing a book or publishing my poetry for a while now, and Rachel's chapter sparked a flame in me.  So here I am, starting from scratch, being vulnerable, and taking a leap of faith in sharing my thoughts with the world.  Let me start out by saying I am by no means an experienced blogger - heck, I wrote a blog about being gluten-free when I was in undergrad, which I then proceeded to delete after starting recovery for my eating disorder in 2016.  This blog will be very much a work in progress.  I don't plan for it to look fancy or have amazing formatting.  I am simply hoping that this blog becomes a platform where I can share my creative work and thoughts.  I have held back so much in the past when it comes to sharing some of my writing, and well, I figure that a blog is a good place to start.  I am passionate about intercultural and health communication, and really all things mental health related.  I'm in currently in recovery from an eating disorder, and it has been one of the hardest things I have ever done.  The name of this blog, Bravely BeYOUtiful was inspired by a quote that used to be on one of my therapists' doors: "be your own kind of beautiful." It is by far one of my favorite quotes that keeps me moving forward in recovery.  I hope to inspire at least one person with this blog, and I hope to grow in the process as well. Thanks for joining me on this beYOUtiful journey, dear reader! 

xoxo,

Allie